


Basketball & Phone Calls

by dapperwings



Category: DCU, DCU (Comics)
Genre: Batfamily (DCU), Boredom, Competitive friendship, Gen, Platonic Relationships, Stephanie Brown & Jason Todd - Freeform, Stephanie Brown & Jason Todd Friendship, batfam, best friends steph and jay, loosely inspired by batman eternal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-10
Updated: 2020-01-10
Packaged: 2021-02-27 11:40:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,304
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22196446
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dapperwings/pseuds/dapperwings
Summary: When Stephanie notices Jason’s keeping a secret, she’s determined to find out what’s going on. The impromptu basketball game is just a bonus for these two competitive friends.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 33





	Basketball & Phone Calls

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! This is my first batfam-related fic. I had fun writing it, and apologies in advance for any weird formatting. If this is something you like, let me know with a kudos or comment :) 
> 
> Enjoy!

“Bored. I’m bored.” groaned Jason. 

He sprawled upside down across one of the couches in the manor underneath a tall window that let in the afternoon sunlight. Feet in the windowsill, head on the floor, arms lazily stretched out to either side, the picture of relaxation. 

Then, he slowly moved his arm to his pocket to check his phone. 

He scrolled through his contacts, selected one, and pressed ‘call’, but then immediately ended it. He put his phone back down and stretched his arms, closing his eyes and basking in the warm sunlight.

Suddenly, a paper star thunked in the rug right next to his head and Jason jerked, turning his head.

“What the hell?” he said, squinting to see across the room for the source of the star. 

“You’re telling me,” Stephanie was draped across a huge red velvet chair on the other side of the massive rug. Sheets of paper lay all over the floor by the chair.

”I just spent like, what, ten minutes making that thing? And I missed. Actually,” she said, mischief in her voice, “I made lots of them.”

Jason raised an upside-down eyebrow at her. Then, his eyes widened as a gun spray of paper stars suddenly flew at him from across the room. 

“Hey!” he yelled, falling off the couch under the spray of paper as he tried to protect his face with his hands. 

Steph laughed “Relax, just testing your reflexes.” She slumped back into her chair and sighed while Jason extricated himself from the pile of paper stars on the floor. 

“Ugh. I’m still bored. Hey, who were you trying to call?” She tried to keep her question neutral but couldn’t help the slight note of accusation that slipped into her voice. 

She’d noticed Jason spent a lot of time checking or dialing his phone the past couple days, and it hadn’t escaped her that he’d done it again a few moments ago. Something was definitely up. 

Jason frowned “No one. And quit looking at my screen.” 

Steph narrowed her eyes, but let his deflection slide. “Then quit holding your phone so everyone can see it.” She swung herself out of the chair and stood upright and glanced at Jason for just a moment.

He knew that look. That was her “I’m-going-to-find-out-what-you-know” face, and this was something he really didn’t want her to know. He needed a distraction, and fast. 

He looked out the window. It was a nice afternoon, even for Gotham. The sun was out and everything outside looked warm and inviting-the manor, the garden, the basketball court. 

Jason raised an eyebrow. 

“Hey, I have an idea. Still bored?” he moved his hands as if he were shooting a basketball, then pointed out the window with his thumb. 

“Wanna shoot some hoops?”

*****

Jason dribbled the basketball he’d found in a closet as he and Steph headed to the court. It was surrounded by a tall, chain-link fence. The bouncing sound from the ball hitting the ground rang around them, and both of them started to feel competitive. 

“So, one-on-one, first to 20?” 

“Works for me.” Steph twisted her hair into a ponytail and pulled it tight behind her head. “So what do I get when I win? How about the source of your mysterious phone calls?” she grinned, eyes full of mischief and determination.

“Ha. You’ll never have the chance to find out. But when I win, you stop asking me about it.” Jason grinned back and threw the ball over the fence. 

“Deal, but only because there’s no way I let you win. Beat you over the top!” Stephanie jumped up and started climbing.

“You know there’s a door, right?” 

“Where’s the fun in that?” Steph laughed as she vaulted over the top of the fence, hit the ground, and snatched the basketball from the court. 

Jason landed hard and jumped up to go after her, but Steph was already at half court, dribbling towards the hoop. 

She had the perfect layup and released the ball, rolling it easily from her palm into the hoop. 

“One-nothing, Jay!” she announced triumphantly as the ball slipped through the net. 

“For now!” Jason retorted. He grabbed the rebound and turned to set up his drive. 

Stephanie raced to half-court, getting ahead of him, keeping him in her sight. Jason loped forward, keeping his eyes firmly on hers, trying to guess how she would move to block him. But Steph was watching his feet, waiting for the smallest shift in movement to tell her which way he would go.

Sure enough, he shifted and she barely moved to the left, testing him. Jason saw the opening and moved forwards, and Stephanie moved to block him out of the box. But Jason doubled back. He checked himself with lightning speed, darted around her, jumped, and swung the ball behind him and back out on the other side for a clean shot. 

“Ha! One-on-one!” he said. “You’ve gotta do better than that, Blondie.” Jason challenged, watching Steph grab the rebound.

“Please, just letting you get comfortable.” Stephanie retorted, bouncing the ball before starting to dribble. 

She dribbled in place for a hot second. Jason lingered just out of range, waiting to see how she would move before he came in to block her. Steph sized up her options, and then she darted left, raising her right arm to block Jay’s advance. 

She spun, backing into him and using her body weight as a barrier as she drove down the court, getting him oh-so-slightly off balance. She needed to get him out of close range if she was gonna make this shot.

She blocked Jason hard with her body and he stumbled. With the half-second of time she bought from his lost balance, Steph faked right, dribbled left, and bolted across the court. 

She heard Jason running hard to catch up to her, waited for the perfect moment, and put on the brakes. 

Steph stopped as Jason shot past her and leaped for a jump shot over Jason’s head. The ball swooshed through the net. 

“TWO-on-one. Who’s got skills? Me!” Steph celebrated. “Like I said, get comfortable, Jay!” 

“You call that skill?” Jason grinned. “Blondie, this is how it’s done.”

He retrieved the ball and bounced it twice, hard, and then started to dribble. Stephanie met him at half court and they zigzagged down the court together. 

Jason had the power to drive forward, but up-close Stephanie was fast and physical, and he knew she’d steal the ball if he stuck to his drive. He needed her off his back, and he got his moment when she swatted for the ball and in doing so mistimed her step. 

She stumbled for half a second, and it was all he needed to shove past her, dribbling hard for the basket, fully committed to an epic dunk. 

But Stephanie leapt upright fast, regaining her balance with lightning speed. She came right behind him and met Jason at the net, jumping in the air at the same time, reaching to swat the ball away as he passed it behind him, and their bodies collided in midair. 

Steph was body slammed away, but not before getting her hand on the basketball, just enough to twist it to the edge of the net where it bounced off the rim and rolled harmlessly to the side of the court. Jason landed and saw her on the ground.

“You OK?” he rushed over to her, a note of concern in his voice, the game forgotten for the moment.

“Psshhh, please.” Steph jumped up, grinning. “I just blocked your shot. I’m more than OK.” 

“Oh, it’s like that?” Jason smirked, retrieving the ball and throwing it to her with a harder-than-necessary chest pass.

“Oh yeah, it’s like that.” Steph caught the ball with a loud ringgg as the hard leather skin burned her palms. “Two-one, my ball.”

Steph didn’t waste a moment. She took off down the court, keeping an eye on the fast-approaching Jason. 

“Hear that?” she asked. 

“Hear what?” 

“The sound of my upcoming victory and you telling me all about your mystery calls.” Steph said.

Jason swiped for the ball, but she kept it low, blocking him from getting it. 

“Always knew you were an optimist, but I never figured you for delusional. And it’s none of your business anyways,” he said evenly, eyes watching the ball, ready for her next move, “so drop it.” 

Steph knew Jason could steal the ball from her too easily on a closed drive. She shuffled to the side, trying to buy herself an inch of space between them so she could get into open space. 

“Ha, have you even met me? But if that’s really what you want, I’ll just take the points,” She said, seeing her opportunity. 

“What points?” Jason asked, but he was too late. Steph had made her opening between them, just what she needed. 

She swept the ball low, took a step forward. Double-tapped, then side stepped to the left. Jason reacted to the double tap and stumbled back, knee hitting the court before he realized she was faking him.

Steph darted back around him, to the half-court line, and leaped. 

At the same time, Jason scrambled up and jumped, hands high to block, and they hung together in mid-air for a long second. Steph shot the ball over Jason’s reaching hands, arcing perfectly in a silhouette against the golden Gotham sky.

The ball soared and swooshed for a perfect three-point shot from half court. 

“Those points! Five on one!” Steph punched her fists in the air in celebration as Jason went to get the ball. 

“Damn, Blondie, where’d you learn to play like this?” Jason said, dribbling towards his basket. 

“Public court near my house. And I took gymnastics.” Stephanie said while moving fast to block Jason’s approach. 

“Gymnastics? That’s cute.” Jason was driving hard, trying to dribble around her, going straight for his basket. He lowered his shoulders, trying to shove past her. 

Steph felt confident. She was winning. 

She moved with Jason towards the basket, staying just out of range, but then she dropped back, leaving him free to duck around and shoot. He did, but she leapt to grab the hoop and twisted, kicking the ball out of his hands in a snappy acrobatic move. 

Jason fell back, surprised, and Steph let go of the hoop with a grin, dropping to the ground. “Blocked again!” she announced sweetly. “How’s that feel?”

“Like you forgot the ball’s still live,” Jason said. 

Stephanie turned to see that he’d grabbed the ball before it rolled out of bounds. He dribbled once, jumped, and turned through the air as he slam-dunked behind her. The ball went through with a sharp crack as the old net snapped around the force of the basketball passing through. 

“What? No!” Steph shouted, horrified. 

“Talk to me when you can do that, gymnastics.” He laughed. “Five-two. I’m coming up fast.” Jason grinned as he bounced her the rebound. 

“Oh, it’s so ON!” Steph said, competition written all over her. 

She grabbed the pass and started her drive. Staying low, she drove forward, watching for Jason’s approach. They squabbled towards the basket, and she elbowed her way to get the room she needed to keep her lead. 

Steph turned under the basket, and jumped high, curling her legs to her chest and bringing her arms high to get above Jason’s reaching hands, reaching out for the perfect dunk. 

Or what should have been the perfect dunk. 

Jason shot his hands upwards, trying to knock the ball out of her hands and away from the basket. She saw it happen a second too late, and Jason punched the ball out of her hands. 

“No!” Steph said. She landed, turning to grab the ball, but Jason recovered faster than she did. He’d already snatched it up and started dribbling, and even as she ran after him she knew there was no way she could catch up in time to block his shot. 

Jason stopped at the three-point line, jumped, and swished a three-pointer. “Five-five, Blondie!” he laughed. “We’re even now. Tiebreaker?”

He passed her the ball, but Stephanie caught it and threw it back, holding her ground.

“I think it’s only fair that the underdog goes first.” She said, going into defensive stance, eyes narrowed. A smile still played at the corner of her mouth. 

“I was going easy on you, but if you really want to play…” Jason suddenly smiled, his green eyes lighting up, his white streak sweat-plastered to his forehead. A whole new energy radiated off him. 

“Ready for the big leagues?” he started to dribble.

“Are you?” Steph responded, blue eyes on fire and blonde hair in a sweat-streaked ponytail. She crouched low and swayed, light on her feet, ready to move in an instant. 

Jason ran hard and straight to the other end. Steph was already moving to intercept him. 

She’d anticipated his dribble, but he’d anticipated her reaction and they collided at half-court. They moved down the court like a pair of squabbling squirrels. 

If Steph got close, she was fast and precise exactly where Jason was just a second slower. But if Jason got the slightest ground around her, he could use his weight to get the edge and clear her for an open shot. 

For a long second, they were fairly matched. 

Then, Jason pulled back. Steph feinted after him, but she’d given him the patch of court he needed. With a burst of speed and strength, he blew past her, knocking her to the ground, leaped for the hoop, dunked powerfully, hands on the rim, and…BLAM!

…popped the basketball. 

********

Steph winced at the loud sound. Jason fell to the ground. He leaped up in attack mode, ready to fight. 

Then, they looked at each other and burst out laughing. 

“You’re good out there, Blondie.” Jason said, offering Steph a hand up off the court. She took it, grinning. “Remind me to pick you for my team if we ever get a family game going.” 

“You’re not so bad yourself. And like you’d ever be captain.” 

“Ouch.” Both of them stared at the lump of what used to be a basketball for a moment. Jason poked it with his foot and it slumped over. “Nice job.” said Steph. “So, who’s your mystery caller?” 

Jason crossed his arms. “Hey-nope. You didn’t win. It was a tie. You don’t get to know.” 

“What? You totally sabotaged the game. I win by default.” Steph protested. 

“You didn’t win. Even game.” 

“Was it?” Steph said, shifting into sparring stance, eyes flickering. “Then we still gotta settle that tie. First to hit the ground loses.”

Jason grinned and shifted his stance too, prepared to spar. Competition was in his eyes. “Tie? I owned you that last round.” 

The sun wasn’t quite ready to set, and a golden hour glow reflected off the manor and glinted off the chain link fence. 

“That’s funny,” Steph circled, then darted in and closed the space between them, swinging a punch that bounced off Jason’s arm as he raised to block, “cuz there’s a lump of what used to be a ball over there that says otherwise.” 

They started to spar in center court, instinctively using the round painted line as their barrier and staying inside it as they kicked, dodged, jumped, and hit. 

Steph kicked at Jason, sending him crashing to the court, but at the last second he bounced back up, turning his momentum into a new attack. 

“Nice save.” She acknowledged. “But I’m still gonna find out who you’re calling.” And she darted forward with a succession of kicks and jabs that drove Jason back several steps. 

“I don’t know if anyone has ever told you this,” Jason said, crossing his arms to block her next kick, “but you’re, like, insanely competitive. You really think you can handle losing twice in a day?” he landed a solid punch to her side. “I think you’d actually implode.” 

Steph took the hit and came back with two quick punches of her own, one of which connected with Jason’s jaw, knocking him back. 

“Losing? I’m at my finest when people root against me. Besides…” Steph grunted, aiming low to swipe Jason’s feet out from under him, “You’ll never have the chance to find out.” She quipped his own line back at him with a grin. 

“Please, Blondie, you couldn’t handle me at my finest.” Jason retorted, catching his balance, doing a flip and landing upright. 

As if that wasn’t the setup she’d been waiting for all day…

“Neither could Babs.” 

Jason’s next swing went wide. “What?” 

Stephanie took full advantage of his surprise and sideswiped Jason’s legs, dropping him to the ground. 

Folding her arms as she stood over him, she said, “I saw her phone at lunch yesterday, Jason. Fourteen missed calls? Fourteen, Jay? You couldn’t be more desperate if you serenaded love songs to her outside her window, and please tell me you haven’t done that.” 

Jason was speechless. “I-damn-“ he got out as he stood to his feet. “Wait-you knew this whole time?”

“Obviously.” Steph snorted, “I just wanted you to admit it.” 

She shifted her stance, getting in Jason’s face. “What are you trying to do here? This is Babs, Jason. As in, Dick almost died and they basically broke up and now you’re trying to get in with your brother’s girl?”

“No! I-no. It’s not like that.” Jason stuttered. 

He rubbed the back of his neck and stared at the ground for a second before meeting Steph’s eyes, her fiery blue eyes locked onto his green ones. He knew she wouldn’t let this go, so he slowly started talking, and the words just spilled out. 

“I’ve actually kinda had a…feeling lately-don’t really know what’s going on. We did that case down in Brazil and, I don’t know, it’s like something clicked? I think we both felt it. But now that we’re both back in Gotham nothing’s happening. I mean, I still like her, and I’ve called her but she’s not picking up. I get that she’s got a lot on her plate what with her dad and all, and I don’t want to interfere, but, I don’t know, yeah.” He ended awkwardly, looking away. 

Stephanie sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. “Okay, as your best friend, I’m obligated to tell you you’re being an idiot. Jason, this is a horrible idea.” He looked back at her, surprised.

“Barbara is going through a lot right now. She needs time to figure things out for herself. She needs space. She doesn’t need you doing…whatever this is you’re trying to do.” 

Jason sighed. “I know, but I don’t know what to do because I’m still, you know, interested.”

Stephanie tilted her head, thinking. “Well, then let’s change that.”

“What?” 

“Change your interest, dummy. What-who-you want.” Steph laughed, and Jason could see the plan forming behind her eyes before she spoke. 

“Let’s go out tonight, find a nice club, find you a girl. I’ll be your wingwoman! We can get a limo! Oooo and let’s use one of Bruce’s nice cards for the night. Make an impression. I bet we can get to his stash in his office before Alfred catches us.” 

Stephanie grinned, already picturing it. 

A bit surprised with himself, Jason found he could picture it too. And even more surprising, he didn’t mind. Maybe moving on was the best thing for himself and for Babs. 

“You know what? Why not? Race you back-winner takes all!” Jason said, aiming one last kick and vaulting over the fence before she had a chance to recover. 

Steph bolted after him towards the manor. 

Like hell she’d be caught behind on their third competition of the day.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!


End file.
